Our Lady's Rosary Makers

It was at the end of one of these talks that he was inspired to ask “If I can find the know-how and source of supplies, how many of you would like to make rosaries for the Mother of God?” Twenty hands went up and that was the beginning of our Lady’s Rosary Makers of Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1957. Stanislaus financed the entire mission until his death in 1964.

It all began way back in the early 1950’s. A Grand Rapids man, named Stanislaus DesPres, was making crucifixes for the missions. Lowell Vickery, who is a convert to the Catholic Faith (his family had seven Methodist ministers at the time), got together with Stanislaus and they both worked on making the crucifixes together. The missionaries wrote letters thanking them but always asked for rosaries.

As Lowell grew deeper in his faith he became a devotee of Our Lady of Fatima. He began giving talks on Fatima to various groups in churches around the area.

OUR HISTORY

Stanislaus DesPres

Lowell and Margaret Vickery with the Pilgrim Virgin

statue of Our Lady of Fatima.

Today we have grown to over 200 rosary and scapular makers and we send out our newsletter to more than 400 people who are involved in this ministry in some way. We have expanded to other areas in West Michigan. Last year we sent over twenty-five thousand rosaries to the missions.

We are a non-profit organization

with a board of directors.

Our current board members are:

Our Lady’s Errand Boy

Lowell Vickery

Officers

President

Tom Kneeshaw

Vice President

Bob Townshend

Second Vice President

Peter Vickery